Representative Richard Belmont Ray

Richard Belmont Ray (February 2, 1927 – May 29, 1999) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as a Representative from Georgia in the United States Congress from 1983 to 1993. He represented Georgia’s 3rd congressional district for five consecutive terms, contributing to the legislative process during a significant period in American history and participating in the democratic process on behalf of his constituents.

Ray was born in Fort Valley, Peach County, Georgia, on February 2, 1927. He was raised in central Georgia and attended public schools, graduating from Crawford County High School in Roberta, Georgia, in 1944. His early life in rural Georgia, including exposure to farming and small-town civic life, would later inform his political focus on agricultural, local economic, and community issues.

Immediately after completing high school, Ray served in the United States Navy during World War II from 1944 to 1946. His wartime service came during the final years of the global conflict and provided him with early experience in public service and discipline. Following his discharge from the Navy, he returned to Georgia, where he worked as a farmer and local businessman. These pursuits grounded him in the economic and social concerns of his region and helped establish his reputation as a community leader.

Ray’s formal political career began at the local level. He was elected mayor of Perry, Georgia, serving from 1964 to 1970. During his tenure as mayor, he oversaw municipal affairs in a period of growth and change in middle Georgia. At that time, Sam Nunn, who would later become a prominent United States Senator, served as the city attorney for Perry. After Nunn’s election to the U.S. Senate in 1972, Ray joined his staff and became Nunn’s administrative assistant. In that role, Ray gained extensive experience in federal legislative operations, constituent service, and national policy issues, laying the groundwork for his own future in Congress.

In 1982, Ray was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives from Georgia’s 3rd congressional district. He took office on January 3, 1983, and was re-elected four times, serving a total of five terms until January 3, 1993. His decade in the House coincided with major national developments in domestic and foreign policy during the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations. As a member of the House of Representatives, Richard Belmont Ray participated actively in the legislative process and represented the interests of his largely rural and small-town constituency, focusing on issues important to central and western Georgia.

Following the 1990 Census, Georgia gained an additional congressional district, prompting a redrawing of district lines by the Democratic-controlled Georgia General Assembly. In the resulting reapportionment, Georgia’s 6th congressional district was dismantled, and much of the southern portion of then-Representative Newt Gingrich’s territory was shifted into Ray’s Columbus-based 3rd District. The newly configured district was considerably more urban and more Republican-leaning than Ray’s previous constituency. In the 1992 election, facing this altered political landscape, Ray ran for re-election but was defeated by Republican state senator Mac Collins, a resident of the former Gingrich territory, losing by almost ten percentage points. His service in the House concluded in January 1993, marking the end of his five-term congressional career.

After leaving Congress, Ray divided his time between Byron, Georgia, and Alexandria, Virginia. He remained connected to public affairs and to the communities he had long represented, and his congressional and political papers were later preserved in archival collections, including the Richard B. Ray Papers at the University of Georgia’s Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. Richard Belmont Ray died in Macon, Georgia, on May 29, 1999, closing a lifetime of military, local, and national public service rooted in the communities of central Georgia.